UNION BEACH – Earlier this spring, Gigi Liaguno-Dorr decided to shutter her superstorm Sandy-battered business, Jakeabob's, calculating she could no longer keep up with expenses.

After the devastating storm, Liaguno-Dorr had opened her restaurant in a new, temporary, location, where it had served as a focal point for the community, serving meals to local residents and often hosting community meetings on Sandy issues.

"We're ecstatic," Liaguno-Dorr said. "This is the first time I feel good since the storm."

The loans consist of a $297,131 working capital loan and a $1.5 million construction loan from the Stronger NJ Business Loan Program and a $400,000 loan from the EDA so Liaguno-Dorr can refinance her existing mortgage, said Virginia Pellerin, a spokeswoman for the authority.

"Our team has worked hand in hand with this business to help them rebuild at their former location," Michele Brown, the EDA's chief executive officer, said in a statement. "We are thrilled to support the return of this fixture in the Union Beach community."

In early April, Liaguno-Dorr was among a dozen small-business owners who gathered in Highlands to tell news media of their frustrations with applying for EDA aid. That event was hosted by New Jersey Main Street Alliance, an activist group that has been critical of Gov. Chris Christie and his administration's handling of recovery aid, and other issues such as raising the minimum wage.

In response, Brown promised to ramp up the pace of grant and loan approvals, partly through a new staffing regime where EDA business advisers were organized in teams of two or three, so business owners would more easily get through when they call about their applications.

Liaguno-Dorr said she hopes to begin reconstruction of Jakeabob's at the original location by the end of summer after filing additional paperwork and obtaining various permits.